Mr. John Farrelly:

That is the key challenge. We have closed down many of the institutions but we have not necessarily replaced them and thought about the community services. If a new policy develops and goes through the political system, people should be held accountable for its implementation and they cannot decide what not to implement. There is a plan there. A model such as Sláintecare, but with some sort of a module around mental health because it tends to get forgotten about, seems to work where people are held accountable.

Another thing that would be useful in the political system would be an agreed approach around reviewing the Mental Health Act and getting that through. It was a good policy. The problem was its ad hocimplementation.